DOVER (Sept. 25, 2015) – With hunters and other wildlife area visitors heading out to enjoy fall weather, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today that two wildlife areas have undergone name changes since last hunting season.

In New Castle County, the wildlife area formerly known as the Blackbird Reserve Wildlife Area near Townsend – adjoining Eagles Nest Road – has been renamed the Eagles Nest Wildlife Area.

“We changed the name of the Blackbird Reserve Wildlife Area to reduce confusion associated with two nearby and similarly-named properties – the Blackbird Creek Reserve, which is managed under the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Blackbird State Forest, which is managed by the Delaware Department of Agriculture,” said Craig Rhoads, the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Habitat Conservation program manager, who oversees state wildlife areas.

In Kent County, the other name change involves the Urban and Fortney Tracts near Hartly, which are now part of the newly-created Tappahanna Wildlife Area, named for the Tappahanna Ditch, which flows through portions of both tracts.

“These two tracts were not previously associated with a wildlife area, which created many questions over what rules and regulations pertained to them,” Rhoads said. “Now they are part of a unified wildlife area consistent with other tracts throughout the state.”

Existing rules and regulations for both newly-renamed wildlife areas will remain the same as in previous years under the old names. The new 2015/16 wildlife area maps, which are available online at Delaware Hunting Maps, will include the new names. The maps also are available in printed form at DNREC’s Dover licensing desk in the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover. The current 2015-2016 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide was published prior to the wildlife area name changes and does not include the new names.